I started skating on 7.75" decks, recently moved up to 8", and loved it so much I kind of want to up it again to 8.5", just to see how it feels. I don't skate much tranny, I'm more interested in street. But, I'm not very techy either, not much flippy stuff, I just want to go bigger, faster, etc. My concerns are:

1. It's hard to find 8.5" decks. Most shops don't stock them, and I want to be able to just walk in and buy something off the rack instead of hunting it from a catalog. I'm a little worried that if I end up liking 8.5", I won't want to go back and it'll be a real hassle to buy new decks from here forward.

2. There's got to be a reason most people don't go much wider than 8". What is it?

3. Any pros that skate street with really wide (i.e. larger than 8.25") decks? If I could model my decision on a pro whose street skating I admire, I might be able to justify number 1 above. Emphasis on street skating because I know guys who focus on pools and ramps love fat decks, but that's not really my thing.

i ride that size for everything but i mostly skate tranny. i have size 12 shoes too. its probably a little big for what youre looking for but obviously you can skate street on one. try a 8.25 or something

Yeah I guess I'm just wondering if the extra half inch is going to feel too chunky to move around easily. Was thinking I'd get a pair of bigger trucks to go with it, so don't want to drop the $$ and then regret it.

A bigger board isn't gonna make you a better skater, or at least probably not how you think it will.

You say you want to go bigger and faster, well it's not really gonna help you in that respect. I suppose a wider board, paired with wider trucks, will provide a more stable platform if you're doing gaps, but I really doubt a half inch is holding you back from doing gaps.

You're really not a big dude, and I know deck size is preference, but I feel it just makes logical sense that, generally speaking, bigger people ride bigger boards and vice versa.

It really depends on the size of your feet. Been riding 8.5 for almost a year now and I love it. Took a week or two to get everything back but it was one of the best decisions I ever made. I highly recommend 8.5 trucks on a 8.5 board . . or at least 8.25. Tranny is a lot easier with a bigger board - but flip tricks do become different; sometimes u gotta adjust your feet to make it work because the boards bigger and flipping a little slower, it's just about getting use to different setup- takes time but it'll come. My suggestion to you is to first try 8.38 or 8.4, it'll probably be the difference you are looking for. Also not sure what boards you ride; but I've noticed aws boards are not as heavy as DLX, might not sound like a big deal but when you're using a board that's a few in.'s bigger it makes a huge difference. Hope this helps.

i skate 8.5's during the winter when i don't get to skate as often, i don't know why i do that but it works for me. i have an 8.5 foot and it works out fine. if i'm skating everyday i'll take it down to an 8.25.

I don't know why people say 8.5 is no good for street, etc. You can skate anything.Size is all about what feels comfortable to you. Usually it correlates with body type (i.e. bigger people ride bigger decks) but of course there are exceptions like Lizard (mentioned above) and Rob Welsh. I think I probably spent the first 3-4 years of skating trying out different shit until I figured out what felt good to me. I know what shape I like and I chase after that. With that said, even 20 years later I'm still trying different shit.

Personally, for street skating anything in the 8.25-8.4 range is perfect. Once I go to an 8.5, I can start to feel the dynamics of flip tricks changing and the extra weight a little more. As stated above, you can really ride anything and it's just whatever you like, but I find that 8.5 is about where I start to feel the physical limitations of having a big board. I'm riding an 8.5 now and it doesn't really change too much, except making tre flips and a few other flip tricks more work.

I rode 8.5 for a while due to size 12 shoes, the wider board made me feel more comfortable. Like the author not too tech, some tranny at the park. Just switched to a slighlty smaller 8.3 P2 deck and loving it so far

I rode 8.5 for a while due to size 12 shoes, the wider board made me feel more comfortable. Like the author not too tech, some tranny at the park. Just switched to a slighlty smaller 8.3 P2 deck and loving it so far

From memory the boss and Arto ride 8.5 decks

I have never heard anything about their board sizes, but I wouldn't doubt it. Reynolds, if I recall, is about 6'1" ...and Arto ain't small either. Plus, the Boss' skating most of the time isn't too tech.

I know a lot of the pros on baker and deathwish ride 8.5 decks.Reynolds, Greco, Slash, Nuge, Baca and Lizard King all ride 8.5's. Hell, Ellington is on a 8.625. Other than the baker/deathwish dudes, I know Hoffart is on an 8.5 too.

As for me, I ride 8.5's and I pretty much only skate street. Gives me more room to catch my tricks and makes it easier to stay in grinds because I have more room to balance out. I find that the bigger you go with deck size the harder it is to go back down to a smaller size, which could be a bad thing. I remember I was standing on my friends board not too long ago and I said "dude, this is pretty small, you ride a 7.75 or somethin?" and he said "nah man, its an 8". After you go 8.5 or above pretty much anything under 8.25 feels like a 7.5 - 7.75. I don't think I could go back to skating 7.75 - 8.0 decks, which used to be my preferred size three or four years back.

As been said a million times, its all about personal preferences. For me its a bitch trying to do fliptricks on anything bigger then 8 1/4 even though Im tall and rocking size 11 shoes. One of my friends on the other hand who is shorter with smaller feet is doing flip in tuff on a 8.5 like its nothing.

Only one way to find out, buy one and try. Just make sure you have the right trucks for it